Bhutanese people are yet to have an access to safe, sufficient and sustainable water, and sanitation facilities through adoption of hygiene practices. And this undermines government’s efforts to eliminate poverty and water related diseases.
To overcome this stumbling block, stakeholders met in Paro for the 3rd Bhutan Water Sanitation and Hygiene or B-Wash workshop. It called for collaboration among the stakeholders. This is because the civil society organisations and government agencies have been working independently towards providing safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
“Now what does B-WASH cluster does is provide a platform to bring, collaborate among the stakeholders and share each other’s experience, so that duplication of work doesn’t happen,” said Dechen Yangden, Chief Engineer, Water and Sanitation Division under the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement.
After the launch of B-WASH programme in 2016, 39 gewogs of 10 districts today, have 100 per cent toilet coverage without government providing subsidies for toilet construction. However, water sources drying up in some parts of the country are affecting effective implementation of the programme.
“Now our next challenge is to make sure that people use toilets they have constructed. Ultimately our outcome is to see reduction in the morbidity,” said Rinchen Wangdi, Chief Engineer with the health ministry, adding: “In the past diarrhoeal diseases and WASH related disease used to be the in the top ten disease level, now we are seeing reduction in the disease level.”
The proper development of water and sanitation infrastructure and maintaining it to optimal working condition has been limited by climate change, lack of resources and budget, and inadequate planning. However, WASH programme hopes to provide safe drinking water every day to all the Bhutanese in the 12th Five-Year-Plan.
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